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Could NBC Brass Pass Over Zucker as Top Exec? (NYP)
NBC Universal wunderkind Jeff Zucker, who rose from Today show producer to the No. 2 executive at the network and the person in line to succeed chief executive Bob Wright, now faces a less certain future as GE head Jeffrey Immelt recently launched an informal search for outsiders that could take over Wright's post.

BusinessWeek Cleans House, Axes 14 (NYP)
The magazine's new editor-in-chief Steve Adler is slashing and burning. In its second round of cutbacks in less than a year, the McGraw-Hill flagship lowered the boom on 12 editorial staffers and bid adieu to two other veterans.

Iraqi Journos Prosecuted Under New Laws Criminalizing Speech Against Officials (NYT)
Under a broad new set of laws criminalizing speech that ridicules the government or its officials roughly a dozen Iraqi journalists have been charged with offending public officials in the past year. Currently, three journalists are being tried for articles that accused a provincial governor, local judges and police officials of corruption.

Study: Rich People Reading Magazines More Than Ever (Folio)
Affluent people are spending more time reading magazines, according to the latest Mendelsohn Affluent Survey. The top quarter of U.S. households with current household incomes of $85,000 or higher are reading more magazines than ever before, with increases in the number of publications read as well as the number of issues.

Telemundo May Start Mexican Network (Reuters via LAT)
NBC's Spanish-language unit, Telemundo, could launch a new broadcast television network in Mexico within two years, the company's president said. The Mexican market is currently dominated by Televisa, with rival TV Azteca a distant second, but Telemundo wants to join the battle.

Mark Cuban: Only a Moron Would Buy YouTube (Reuters)
Billionaire investor and dot-com veteran Mark Cuban said the online site that lets people share video clips would eventually be "sued into oblivion" because of copyright violations. "They are just breaking the law," Cuban said. "The only reason it hasn't been sued yet is because there is nobody with big money to sue."

Rather Ready to Go (Lowdown)
"[Mark] Cuban has given me absolute and complete editorial control," Dan Rather said about Dan Rather Reports, his upcoming weekly show on the HDNet cable network. "Cuban told me, 'I want you to have whatever you need for a quality program,' and he's been as good as his word, and in many instances better than his word."

The Times' Opinionphobia (Guardian)
Michael Kinsley: Rather than labeling everything or nothing as an opinion, the New York Times has chosen to classify its various articles with subtle, scholastic distinctions that would impress a medieval monk. But in order to ensure that the public will remain utterly befuddled, more pointless distinctions, mystifying labels, and arbitrary design elements are badly needed.

Scarlett Johansson Is Esquire's 'Sexiest Woman Alive' (WWD)
The guessing game as to whom the magazine will soon name its "Sexiest Woman Alive" has come to an end. Scarlett Johansson is reportedly to receive the distinction in the mag's November issue, which is set to be unveiled Oct. 17.

Top Exec Mullen To Leave Fuse Network (B&C)
Amidst sagging ratings, Cablevision's Fuse network is parting ways with its executive VP/general manager Catherine Mullen after bringing her on less than a year ago. Mullen is expected to announce she is leaving the company within the coming weeks to accept another offer.

Ex-Source Editor Arrested for Assaults (Page Six)
The former editor-in-chief of the magazine, David Blanks, has been jailed for allegedly assaulting three strangers in Harlem. Cops say Blanks knocked down a man on West 125th Street, then pushed a 36-year-old woman to the ground and punched her, breaking her arm. He strolled two blocks away and hit another man before finally being arrested.

Frank Rich Cranks Out the Story — Again (CJR Daily)
Paul McLeary: Rich's insights are keen, his grasp of pop culture voluminous and his prose crackles — it's just that lately, when I get to his column at the back of the Week in Review section of the Sunday Times, it's hard to escape the conclusion that I've heard it all before.

No Slick Way Out for Tribune (BusinessWeek)
Jon Fine: Smart money says Tribune will divest its 26 TV stations and perhaps some smaller newspapers, borrow big, swallow hard, and go private. Which leaves Tribune and the Los Angeles Times in an unhappy marriage, one that shows no sign of reconciliation, reinvention, or end.

NYT Finally Dehypes Identity Theft (Slate)
Jack Shafer: The paper finally got around to debunking a figure it quoted in a May 30 article without mentioning the original piece. I'm not suggesting that newspapers need to annotate themselves, but this particular attempt on the part of the Times to dispel hysteria would be more effective if the paper nodded to its own role in stirring up the madness.

Kentucky Newspaper Receives Disc Containing 232 Nude Pictures of National Guard Women (E&P)
U.S. Army officials are taking a close look at whether women in a Kentucky National Guard unit posed nude for pictures with their M-16s and other military equipment, authorities said. A local newspaper reported that it had a disc containing 232 of the photos, which they did not publish, and do not plan to publish.